One in three working people don’t have a workplace benefits plan. Too many people go without basic dental care because they can’t afford to see a dentist.

Nobody should have to live in pain, or suffer permanent damage because they couldn’t afford dental care. And nobody should have to rack up credit card bills just to get essential care for themselves or their kids.

No one should ever go without the medication they need because of the cost.

But for 2.2 million Ontarians, a prescription comes with a price tag — because they have no drug coverage at all.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will make Ontario the first province with universal pharmacare by 2020 — so every Ontarian can get the medication they need. It will mean lower costs, less worrying and better health for everyone. And unlike the Liberal government’s plan, nobody will be excluded.

$12-a-day child care

Nothing’s more important than knowing your children have the best, safest care possible. But the cost of child care is priced far out of reach for too many Ontario parents.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will make sure every family can access affordable, high-quality, not-for-profit child care, based on three key principles:

Child care must be affordable for everyone

Public child care dollars should go to not-for-profit and public providers — funds shouldn’t pad the profits of private companies

Early childhood educators deserve a fair wage that respects the vital work they do

If your household income is under $40,000, you won’t have to pay for public, licensed, not-for-profit child care. And if your household earns more, your fees will be based on ability to pay — with the average cost coming to $12 per day.

Over a first term, we will expand the number of not-for-profit, licensed, affordable child care spaces in Ontario by 202,000 spaces — a 51% increase, adding more than 10% every year.

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Ending hallway medicine

It’s the new normal in Ontario hospitals: waiting for hours in emergency rooms, only to end up on a gurney in a hallway — with no privacy or dignity — because there aren’t enough hospital beds.

Years of cuts and funding freezes have pushed hospitals across Ontario into a dangerous overcrowding crisis. The last Conservative government shut down 28 hospitals, closed over 7,000 beds and laid off 6,000 nurses. And Kathleen Wynne froze hospital operating budgets for four years in a row, forcing hospitals to make deep cuts to keep up.

“Ontario does not report full wait times.”

— Auditor General of Ontario, 2016

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will restore hospital funding and ensure it keeps pace every year with inflation, population growth, aging and the unique needs of communities. Funding will increase immediately by 5.3%.

Shorter waits for surgery

Nobody should have to wait for years on end for the surgery they need. And far too often in Ontario, patients reach their surgery date only to have it cancelled. Sometimes they get a cancellation call at home, because Ontario’s hospitals don’t have enough space and resources for them to come in. And sometimes they’re already in hospital — and after an often painful night of fasting and watching the hours tick down, they find out their surgery has been postponed.

Our change for the better:

By increasing funding and ensuring there are enough staff, we’ll allow hospitals to remove arbitrary annual caps that force surgery cancellations every year.

And the NDP will end the Liberal practice of underreporting wait times. With honest public reporting of the full wait time from start to finish, Ontarians will have — for the first time in years — a comprehensive picture of where waits are the longest.

We will lower waits by working collaboratively with surgeons to improve wait list flow strategies, including exploring recommendations from the Auditor General, to help significantly reduce wait times for patients and improve physicians’ access to critical information.

Better Hospitals

We will put $19 billion over 10 years into hospital capital expansion to meet growing capacity needs

2,000 new hospital beds now

We will take immediate steps to expand hospital capacity.

Stopping layoffs of nurses and front-line health care workers

We will make sure that hospitals have the staff they need to provide excellent patient care.

Find-and-fix public inquiry

In our first 100 days in government, Andrea Horwath and the NDP will expand the mandate of the public inquiry into long-term care to find and fix the specific problems that have been stripping seniors of their dignity. We’ll hear directly from families about their experiences, and address solutions around:

Safety of residents and staff

Quality of care

Funding

Staffing levels and practices

Regulation, enforcement and inspections

Capacity, availability and accessibility in every region

The impact of for-profit privatization on care

Government action — and inaction — on past recommendations

Long-Term Care Residents’ Bill of Rights

We’ll update it to enshrine the right of spouses not to be separated against their will

Minimum of four hours of hands-on care per day

We’ll restore a legislated minimum standard of care for every long-term care resident in Ontario, and fund long-term care homes so they can meet it.

15,000 more long-term care beds over five years

Rising to 40,000 by 2028. Expanding the not-for-profit and municipal sector, where funding goes to patient care instead of profit.

Home care: making it the best in Canada

We’ll immediately increase funding by $300 million and eliminate the wait list.

Non-profit and community-governed health care

35 new Community Health Centres by 2025 and an investment of $30 million in community care.

Respect for health care workers

End front-line health care staff layoffs and prevent violence in the workplace.

Cancer care: better treatment and better choices for patients

We will provide complete coverage for take-home cancer drugs.

New Mom’s Guarantee

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will support more than 360 new midwives who want to join the profession over the next four years, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis midwives, as well as midwives from northern and remote communities who want to bring their expertise to their home communities.

We will promote pay equity for women by respecting the decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal regarding gender-based pay discrimination that midwives have experienced under both Conservative and Liberal governments.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will work to build the compassionate palliative care system that Ontario needs — starting by passing Dan’s Law. Named in Dan Duma’s memory, this legislation will eliminate the three-month wait for home and palliative care.

We will improve palliative care by continuing previously-committed investments of $75 million over three years, as well as continuing the additional investment of $15 million in 2018-19, to increase access to hospices across the province and ensure families have better access to community-based palliative care.

And we will respect the right of Ontarians to medical assistance in dying, ensuring that every Ontarian has access to compassionate, quality end-of-life care.

Health equity and access to care

Making sure that no one is denied access to urgent health care — no matter who they are or where they’re from.

Protecting local hospitals and rural health care

Our new funding plan will meet or exceed inflation, and account for population growth, aging and the unique needs of each community.

Better health care for the LGBTQIA2S+ communit

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will work with advocates and health care providers to reduce barriers to care and improve access to transition-related surgeries and gender-confirming surgeries, provided here in Ontario.

We will fully cover the cost of all transition drugs and medications.

Our pharmacare plan will improve access to other essential medicines, including medications required to treat and prevent HIV. It is based on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, which includes pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications for the purposes of preventing HIV.

We will work with the LGBTQIA2S+ community to support every effort to make long-term care homes across Ontario more inclusive and more affirmative spaces — where people can always live with pride.

Fighting the opioid emergency

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will declare a public health emergency, recognizing the scope and seriousness of the crisis and mobilizing resources across the province.

We will focus most urgently on harm reduction, to save lives now. We will expand the distribution of Naloxone and other anti-overdose medications, and support the establishment and operation of supervised injection sites and overdose prevention sites wherever they are needed. And we will listen to front-line harm reduction workers and people with lived experience because they are the experts — and the heroes who are saving lives every day.

A dedicated Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions

Andrea Horwath and the NDP government will establish a dedicated Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. It will have one job: coordinating and building the integrated mental health and addictions services that Ontario needs, delivered close to home, consistently and comprehensively across the province.

We will update and implement the outstanding recommendations of the Select Committee. And based on the Auditor General’s 2016 recommendations, we will:

Start measuring and publicly reporting wait times

Develop an overall strategy to reduce wait times, including setting wait time targets

Set a timetable for developing mental health standards

Explore the need for new dedicated mental health emergency departments

Fighting the opioid emergency

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will declare a public health emergency, recognizing the scope and seriousness of the crisis and mobilizing resources across the province.

We will focus most urgently on harm reduction, to save lives now. We will expand the distribution of Naloxone and other anti-overdose medications, and support the establishment and operation of supervised injection sites and overdose prevention sites wherever they are needed. And we will listen to front-line harm reduction workers and people with lived experience because they are the experts — and the heroes who are saving lives every day.

Hiring 2,200 new mental health care workers

Allowing 28,000 more Ontarians to access the services they need every year.

30,000 new supportive housing units

At least 3,000 every year for the next ten years and funding for ongoing rent supplements and support staff costs.

Expanding Ontario’s Dementia Strategy

$100 million in increased supports for the more than 190,000 Ontarians living with dementia

Children’s Mental Health

We’ll cut wait times to a 30-day max with a $590 million investment.

Mental Health Supports in High Schools

400 more mental health care workers, enough to cover every high school.

Fixing our public schools

Too many kids are going to school in buildings without proper heat or cooling, with leaky roofs or stairways overdue for repair. After years of Conservative and Liberal governments neglecting schools, the backlog of needed repairs has reached $15 billion.

And we’ll fix the rules around Education Development Charges— payments developers make when they build new homes or condos — so they can be used to fund new schools.

Funding schools properly

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will fund schools properly.

We will work with parents, front-line educators, students, and educational experts to overhaul the education funding formula starting with a comprehensive public review based on two key principles: equity and quality.

A new funding formula will address violence in classrooms, curb class sizes and fund special education based on actual needs, not overall populations.

Grants, not loans

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will address affordability head-on with a game-changing initiative: provincial loans for all new post-secondary students will become grants. Every student whose family is eligible for the Ontario Student Assistance Plan will graduate free of any debt to the province.

We will retroactively forgive all interest for everyone carrying provincial student loan debts.

And graduates who have been harassed and threatened by private debt collectors for student loans can breathe easier. The province will no longer hire private debt collection services.

We’ll end the financial choke-hold on colleges and universities by lifting the budget freeze. And we’ll make sure funding keeps up, so post-secondary institutions can offer the choices and quality of instruction Ontario students deserve.

Giving kindergarten students the attention they need

We’ll cap kindergarten classrooms at 26 children and we will end Kindergarten / Grade 1 split classrooms.

Moratorium on school closings

We’ll work with local boards to continue to develop schools as community hubs where everyone can access great public programming and use these facilities.

27,000 new job opportunities for students

Paid co-op and internship opportunities that allow students to graduate with real-world experience.

End EQAO tests

Ending standardized testing will put the focus back on meaningful learning. Savings will be reinvested in our kids’ classrooms.

Faculty renewal strategy

Allowing more contract educators to become full-time professors and instructors, and investing in more tenure-track faculty positions.

Welcome the first students to the Franco–Ontarian university

New Democrats have led the fight to establish a province-wide university where students can earn a degree studying in French. The francophone community has waited long enough.

Cutting Hydro bills by 30% for everyone

Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals didn’t run on a plan to sell off Hydro One, privatize the electrical grid and sell off a valuable public asset.

But that’s exactly what she did as soon as she was elected, and families across the province have seen their Hydro bills skyrocket while Hydro One executives pocket millions.

And the Conservatives? They started the privatization scheme the last time they were in power – they can’t be trusted to protect the public interest now.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will:

Return Hydro One to public hands

Reduce bills immediately

End mandatory time-of-day pricing

Make permanent fixes to the system for the long term

Returning Hydro One to public ownership will help it serve the public interest again. Re-establishing independent, transparent public oversight will make sure of it.

Our plan lowers hydro rates by getting private profits off your bill and lowering the actual costs of electricity, instead of taking out a loan to artificially reduce bills prior to an election.

Affordable housing

Andrea Horwath and the NDP have committed to funding the province’s one-third share of repairing social housing across Ontario, with the municipal and federal governments contributing their one-third shares as well.

We will build new affordable homes — 65,000 of them over the next decade. Andrea Horwath will sign on to the federal National Housing Strategy, which will fund the construction of about 20,000 units, including non-profit and co-op housing. Our 10-year capital plan will make additional investments to build the remaining 45,000 units. And we will provide the co-op housing sector with $3 million to seed co-op bid development.

Overhaul the government’s inclusionary zoning regulations, so they actually accomplish what they set out to do: require a certain number of affordable homes in new housing developments.

We will crack down on housing speculators who are driving up housing costs.

We will protect homebuyers from shoddy construction and unfair financial risk by reforming the Tarion Warranty Corporation. We will ensure, once and for all, that Ontario’s new home warranty system and regulator answer to home buyers and the public, not to private interests.

Protecting tenants and condo buyers

We will make rentals more affordable by introducing legislation to provide:

Effective, reasonable, predictable rent controls that limit the use of above-guideline increases to “renovict” people from their homes

A rent registry, so tenants can know how much a landlord has charged in the past

Protection for renters who pay their rent and abide by their agreements

Updated rules that recognize changing rental markets

Guarantees that rents will remain affordable in the long term, while spurring investments in new, purpose-built rental buildings

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will protect condominium buyers from surprise fees and other issues. We will ensure that:

Disputes can be resolved quickly, without long, expensive court battles

Owners can expect transparency and accountability from condo boards

Advertising materials reflect realistic costs and fees

Owners have protection from shoddy or incompetent construction

Stronger protections for consumers

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will stand up for consumers with tough enforcement of the rules against predatory, high-pressure door-to-door sales. And as problem sectors pop up, we’ll expand the regulations to cover them.

We will fight “pink taxes,” where manufacturers and retailers charge women more than men for similar products and services.

An NDP government will bring stability and transparency to gas prices, based on legislation put forward in NDP Private Member’s Bills.

We will work with the federal government to ensure Ontarians can choose from fairly priced mobile, internet and cable services; that service providers promote them transparently; and consumers can end agreements without punishment.

Andrea Horwath will continue our fight against predatory payday lenders who charge loan interest that reaches hundreds of per cents annually. We will fix the law to limit costs to $15 per $100 inclusive of all fees

Affordable auto insurance

We’ll bring auto insurance premiums down by 15% and end neighbourhood discrimination.

Stronger pensions

Andrea and the NDP will increase the Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund guaranteed amount to $3,000 per month indexed to inflation, and will make the current benefit retroactive for Sears pensioners.

Better workplaces, better lives

For many Ontarians, work is low-paid, part-time and insecure, offering no benefits and little opportunity to plan for the future. Precarious, unstable employment is on the rise, and more and more people are holding down multiple jobs to make ends meet.

We will increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and index ongoing increases to inflation, making it more predictable for families and businesses.

Along with better pay and Ontario Benefits, we will require employers to provide at least three weeks paid vacation to every full-time employee.

We will work to reduce workplace injuries and better support injured workers by making sure WSIB works for them.

Spending smarter

We will invest $180 billion in infrastructure over the next 10 years

We won’t invest in wasteful P3s

We will expand Community Benefit Agreements and ensure the government buys more of what it needs from Ontario small and medium-sized businesses

We will overhaul the province’s supports for small and medium-sized businesses, coordinating them with our economic cluster strategy. They’ll have clear objectives with real benefits for Ontarians, such as overall employment, skills development, community benefits, regional growth, innovation targets, export growth, and co-ordination with local chambers and educational institutions.

Made in Ontario: A plan for auto and manufacturing Jobs

As the daughter of an autoworker, Andrea Horwath knows what a good manufacturing job can mean to a family.

Together with industry, labour and our college system, we will identify skills gaps and work to close them.

We will create a stream within the Jobs and Prosperity Fund to promote manufacturing research and development.

We will work with the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council and Ontario’s new Chief Investment Officer to create a “single window” for automotive and manufacturing investment. Ontario will be the premier destination for the next generation of auto manufacturing investment.

And by championing Ontario as trade deals are renegotiated, Andrea Horwath and the NDP will stand up for workers throughout automotive and manufacturing supply chains.

Starting up Ontario

We will create an advisory panel on the innovation economy help make Ontario the best place in Canada to launch an innovative start-up or scale up an existing one to create good, skilled jobs.

Supporting good jobs in natural resources

We’ll develop a Provincial Forest Strategy to protect the long-term sustainability of our forests, and dedicate $1 billion to get things moving on the Ring of Fire.

A stronger agriculture sector

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will defend supply management for Ontario’s farmers, protect Ontario’s Production Insurance Program and lift the Liberal-imposed cap on the Risk Management Program.

We will work with farming groups to ensure young farmers can get their foot in the door. And we will expand the government’s definition of farming and food production to include new definitions such as urban farming.

Apprenticeships in the trades

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will invest $57 million annually from the Jobs and Prosperity Fund to create opportunities in the trades.

Advancing arts and culture

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will stabilize annual funding for the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and ensure it meets the needs of both new and established artists.

We will establish a new $50-million fund over the next five years out of the Jobs and Prosperity Fund to match TV and film industry investment in new studio space.

We will work with municipal governments to streamline zoning for new and expanded TV and film production facilities. We will maintain stable, predictable and competitive tax credits to bring productions to Ontario and keep those jobs here.

And our $10-million investment to allow libraries to give out passes to museums and galleries will move more people through those important cultural centres.

Revitalizing the horse racing sector

We’ll undo the cuts to the Slots at Racetracks Program (SARP), and build a long-term plan to revitalize this sector and protect the livelihood of these family farms.

An Ontario cluster strategy

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will develop and implement a cluster strategy focused on bringing together all actors within a strategic regional industry.

We will bring together local small and medium sized businesses, large anchor organizations, their suppliers, local colleges and universities, and all levels of government to collaborate on strategies to enhance the competitiveness of our regional industries. While Liberal and Conservative governments have abandoned whole regions and economies, New Democrats will build on their strengths across Ontario.

Natural gas expansion to rural Ontario

A $100 million dollar investment to reduce dependence on high-carbon diesel and heating oil.

Broadband Expansion Fund

A 10-year, $1 billion dollar fund for bringing broadband service to rural and northern Ontario.

Lifelong learning

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will work with businesses and post-secondary institutions to increase opportunities for lifelong training to ensure that people and businesses can keep pace with industrial and technological changes.

We will create a fund within the Jobs and Prosperity Fund to create opportunities for mid-career education, offering training for people who are working and those who are between employment.

And we will review and reform Employment Ontario programs so that they work for the modern economy.

MPP Code of Conduct

A strong code of conduct, with regular updates in plain language, will allow all Ontarians to know what is expected of the people they elect.

Better oversight of Hydro One

We will return full, independent oversight of Hydro One to the eight independent offices..

Open & accountable government

We will work with the Information and Privacy Commissioner to increase government transparency and we’ll eliminate costs for Freedom of Information requests.

Empowering Voters

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will direct Elections Ontario to restore enumeration of Ontario voters.

We will create an Election Finances Commission to review and provide regular recommendations on updating Ontario’s election finance law, with a primary focus on electoral fairness. The commission will include representation from Elections Ontario, members of civil society such as academia, law and civic organizations, and nominees from major political parties.

And we will ask the commission to deliver recommendations on improving Ontario democracy and increasing citizen participation and engagement in the political process, during and between elections. We’ll ask that those recommendations include models of proportional representation.

Working with Cities

Muncipal governments deserve an honest partnership with the provincial government, and not the blaming and buck-passing we’ve seen from Liberal and Conservative governments.

We will restore funding for the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund, allowing local governments to make long-term plans.

An NDP government will ensure that the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) lives up to its mandate to ensure local communities and local planners are respected and supported when they invest time and resources getting support for updated land use plans and policies.

We will allow municipal governments to experiment with reforms such as permanent-resident voting and alternative voting, to encourage greater participation in civic life.

Fair taxes for the wealthiest corporations, lower taxes for small business

Ontario’s businesses benefit significantly from Ontario’s highly educated workforce, modern infrastructure and health care system. And they’ll benefit even more from the investments we’re making. So it’s only fair to ask them to pay their share.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will roll back Liberal corporate-income-tax giveaways, returning the tax rate on corporate profits to 13%, up from 11.5%. This is still lower than when the Liberals took power, and will put Ontario’s combined rate in line with the national average. And we’ll be competitive with the Great Lake states, even after the Trump tax bill.

To give businesses predictability, we will increase the tax on corporate profits by one percentage point in 2019–20 and 0.5 percentage points in 2021–22.

We will maintain the one-third reduction to small business corporate income tax rates.

Meanwhile, by bringing pharmacare costs into the provincial government and exercising the buying power of 14 million Ontarians, businesses in Ontario stand to save a minimum of $800 million and as much as $1.9 billion each year.

We’ll make sure small business exemptions in the Employer Health Tax actually go to small businesses.

There are a number of small business exemptions in the Employer Health Tax that are being used by larger businesses. It’s time to close that loophole. Starting in 2019–20, businesses with payrolls over $3 million will no longer qualify for small business exemptions. Starting in 2021–22, small business exemptions will be available only to businesses with payrolls below $1.5 million. This matches British Columbia’s Employer Health Tax exemptions, and will maintain small business exemptions for businesses with 40 or fewer employees.

A Fairer Business Education Tax

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will bring in a uniform Business Education Tax rate and review the way the tax works, to ensure our schools have a stable source of revenue.

We will make housing more affordable to Ontarians with a speculation tax

Housing speculation and flipping are driving up housing prices. We will implement a new speculation tax that will not be limited to foreign buyers. It will be based on British Columbia’s Speculation Tax, and will apply in the regions where the Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) applies. While the NRST applies only on sales, our anti-speculation tax will apply annually. It will be targeted toward foreign and domestic speculators who do not pay tax in Ontario.

Asking the wealthiest Ontarians to contribute more

Ontarians earning more than $220,000 will see their income tax increase by one percentage point, while people earning above $300,000 will see their marginal rate increase by two percentage points.

We will also introduce a modest luxury tax, of 3% on cars sold for over $90,000. This is based on an existing measure in British Columbia. Only about 1% of sales transactions will be affected, but those purchasing the most luxurious cars will pay a surcharge.

Listening to Ontario’s Auditor

We will implement the Auditor’s suggestions to ensure money is spent properly, and we’ll invest the savings into services.

Improving the integrity of Ontario’s tax collection system

In 2012, the Liberals received recommendations for doing a better job of recovering uncollected taxes. They haven’t acted.

Andrea Horwath and the NDP will act on those outstanding recommendations. We will pursue revenue lost to the underground economy, ensure recipients of corporate support have paid their taxes, collect on non-tax debts and do more to fight the underground economy for tobacco.

The recent Paradise Papers show tax avoidance and evasion are rampant, costing Canada billions of dollars. We will lobby the federal government to improve the Canada Revenue Agency’s ability to clamp down on those practices, and to close unfair tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest.

Taxing tobacco based on its value instead of on its volume

Tobacco is currently taxed based on volume. We will tax tobacco based on value. It ensures that as tobacco prices go up, the taxes fairly reflect the value.

Counting only the revenues we know we can rely on

There are a number of other revenue sources that we’ve kept out of our fiscal framework, because of a lack of government transparency or because there isn’t enough data to make a reliable projection.

Some of those potential revenues that we excluded from our framework include:

Cracking down on excessive public sector executive compensation

The potential for new measures to combat housing speculation

Increased revenues from Hydro One, when we fully return it to public ownership